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The effects of sympathetic activation via acute exercise on physiological and subjective sexual arousal in women Meston, Cindy May
Abstract
This investigation was designed to examine the effects of sympathetic activation on physiological and subjective sexual arousal in women. The purpose was to empirically test the widely held assumption that sympathetic activation inhibits sexual arousal. In experiment I, subjects participated in two experimental sessions in which they viewed a neutral preexposure stimulus followed by an erotic stimulus. In one of these sessions, subjects were exposed to 20 minutes of intense exercise, designed to increase sympathetic activity, prior to viewing the films. In experiment II, subjects viewed two consecutive neutral stimuli preceded by 20 minutes of intense exercise. Experiment II was designed primarily to verify the results of experiment I. Sexual arousal was measured physiologically with a vaginal photoplethysmograph and subjectively with a self-report rating scale. Acute exercise increased both vaginal pulse amplitude and vaginal blood volume responses to erotic stimuli but not to neutral stimuli. Subjective perceptions of sexual arousal were unaltered with exposure to exercise. The present findings have implications for the enhancing effects of anxiety upon sexual arousal in women, Wolpe's reciprocal inhibition hypothesis, desynchrony between subjective and physiological sexual arousal in women, and the treatment of sexual dysfunction.
Item Metadata
Title |
The effects of sympathetic activation via acute exercise on physiological and subjective sexual arousal in women
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Creator | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
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Date Issued |
1992
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Description |
This investigation was designed to examine the effects
of sympathetic activation on physiological and subjective
sexual arousal in women. The purpose was to empirically
test the widely held assumption that sympathetic activation
inhibits sexual arousal. In experiment I, subjects
participated in two experimental sessions in which they
viewed a neutral preexposure stimulus followed by an erotic
stimulus. In one of these sessions, subjects were exposed
to 20 minutes of intense exercise, designed to increase
sympathetic activity, prior to viewing the films. In
experiment II, subjects viewed two consecutive neutral
stimuli preceded by 20 minutes of intense exercise.
Experiment II was designed primarily to verify the results
of experiment I. Sexual arousal was measured
physiologically with a vaginal photoplethysmograph and
subjectively with a self-report rating scale. Acute
exercise increased both vaginal pulse amplitude and vaginal
blood volume responses to erotic stimuli but not to neutral
stimuli. Subjective perceptions of sexual arousal were
unaltered with exposure to exercise. The present findings
have implications for the enhancing effects of anxiety upon
sexual arousal in women, Wolpe's reciprocal inhibition
hypothesis, desynchrony between subjective and physiological
sexual arousal in women, and the treatment of sexual
dysfunction.
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Extent |
3291791 bytes
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Genre | |
Type | |
File Format |
application/pdf
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Language |
eng
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Date Available |
2009-01-08
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Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Rights |
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
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DOI |
10.14288/1.0086861
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URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
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Graduation Date |
1992-11
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Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
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Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.